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Category: African American Studies

February 7, 2024

Worry about Yourself: An Excerpt from “Eating While Black”

During the second week of Black History Month, enjoy this excerpt of Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America by Psyche A. Williams-Forson, which was awarded the 2023 James Beard Foundation Book Award in Food Issues and Advocacy. Worry about YourselfWhen Food Shaming Black Folk Is a Thing In May 2019, an unsuspecting female African American employee of… Continue Reading Worry about Yourself: An Excerpt from “Eating While Black”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts
February 1, 2024

Must-Read Books During Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! Since 1976 the US has been celebrating Black History during the entire month of February. Long before that, however, UNC Press was already publishing distinguished scholarship on African American studies and we are proud to continue to do so. Most recently we announced the launch of our Black Women’s History Series which also hosts an incubator… Continue Reading Must-Read Books During Black History Month

Categories African American Studies/Reading Lists
January 31, 2024

Stromae’s Relational Aesthetic: An Excerpt From “Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects”

The following is an excerpt from Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects by Daphne Lamothe, which is available wherever books are sold. In May 2013, someone anonymously uploaded a sixty-second video titled “Stromae Bourré à Bruxelles!” (Stromae Drunk in Brussels!) to YouTube. The images, seemingly captured by a cellphone, show the musician Paul Van Haver in a state of… Continue Reading Stromae’s Relational Aesthetic: An Excerpt From “Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts
January 17, 2024

Lawless Law Enforcement: An Excerpt from “The Politics of Safety”

The Politics of Safety: The Black Struggle for Police Accountability in La Guardia’s New York by Shannon King is now available wherever books are sold. The following is an excerpt from Throughout the mid- to late 1920s, as a result of widespread corruption in the criminal justice system, the problem of “lawless law enforcement” loomed large across the nation, especially… Continue Reading Lawless Law Enforcement: An Excerpt from “The Politics of Safety”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts
January 15, 2024

Fighting to Desegregate the American Calendar (1968–1983): An Expert from “Living the Dream”

Today, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’re featuring an excerpt from Living The Dream: The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day by Daniel T. Fleming. “In the first book-length study of its kind, Daniel Fleming has added significantly to our understanding of the King holiday and debates around it.” Renee Romano, author of Racial Reckoning: Prosecuting… Continue Reading Fighting to Desegregate the American Calendar (1968–1983): An Expert from “Living the Dream”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts
January 9, 2024

New This Week

It’s our first New Books Tuesday of 2024 and we’re excited to share two new books that are officially on-sale today. You can see everything new this month, including any new in paperbacks, on our Hot Off the Press page. Plus, sign up for our monthly eNews and you will get updates on new releases, sales, and other news on what’s happening at UNC Press… Continue Reading New This Week

Categories African American Studies/Diplomatic History / International Affairs
December 20, 2023

Who Was Julia Chinn?: An Excerpt from “The Vice President’s Black Wife”

The following is an excerpt from the introduction of The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, which is available wherever books are sold. Who Was Julia Chinn? Julia Ann Chinn was an enslaved Black woman. Born sometime between 1790 and 1797, Julia was originally owned by Richard’s parents, Robert and Jemima Suggett… Continue Reading Who Was Julia Chinn?: An Excerpt from “The Vice President’s Black Wife”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts/Women's Studies
December 7, 2023

Seeking Alternative Archives to Better Understand the Past

The following is a guest post by Whitney Nell Stewart, author of This is Our Home: Slavery and Struggle on Southern Plantations, which is now available wherever books are sold. This summer may have been one of the hottest on record, but in July 2012 I experienced a suffocating heat and humidity unlike anything this Gulf-South girl had ever felt.… Continue Reading Seeking Alternative Archives to Better Understand the Past

Categories African American Studies/Guest Bloggers
November 28, 2023

New Books This Week

We’ve arrived at another New Books Tuesday! Check out these two titles which are now available wherever books are sold. As always you can browse everything new this month on our Hot Off the Press page or sign up for our monthly e-news to get the list of new books delivered right to your inbox every month. Save 30% on… Continue Reading New Books This Week

Categories African American Studies/Music/Southern Studies
November 14, 2023

New Books This Week

It’s Tuesday which means we have new books that are officially on-sale wherever books are sold! You can also see our list of everything new this month on our Hot Off the Press page and you can sign up for our monthly eNews to get updates in your inbox about new books, news, promotions and more. Boardinghouse Women: How Southern Keepers, Cooks, Nurses,… Continue Reading New Books This Week

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Labor Studies/Latin American & Caribbean Studies/Literature/Women's Studies
October 20, 2023

Racial and Sexual Exclusion in World War II–Era Military and Veterans’ Policy: An excerpt from “Ambivalent Affinities”

The following is an excerpt of Ambivalent Affinities: A Political History of Blackness and Homosexuality after World War II by Jennifer Dominique Jones, which is available now wherever books are sold. In a January 31, 1942, letter to the Pittsburgh Courier, twenty-six-year-old James G. Thompson queried, “Should I sacrifice my life to live half [an]American? Would it be demanding too much to demand… Continue Reading Racial and Sexual Exclusion in World War II–Era Military and Veterans’ Policy: An excerpt from “Ambivalent Affinities”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts/Labor Studies
September 5, 2023

9 Reasons to Read “Urban Specters”

The Following is a guest post by Sarah Mayorga, author of Urban Specters: The Everyday Harms of Racial Capitalism, now available wherever books are sold. Urban Specters: The Everyday Harms of Racial Capitalism is about working-class and poor people in Cincinnati and how they make sense of their lives. How the stories they tell about the world are often shaped… Continue Reading 9 Reasons to Read “Urban Specters”

Categories African American Studies/Guest Bloggers/Public Policy/Sociology
June 27, 2023

Confounding White Supremacy

The following is a guest post by Michael Ayers Trotti, author of The End of Public Execution: Race, Religion, and Punishment in the American South, which is available now wherever books are sold. This was not what white southern state officials in the 1880s thought punishment should be. When African American John Williams, condemned for murder, was publicly hanged in… Continue Reading Confounding White Supremacy

Categories African American Studies/Guest Bloggers/Southern Studies
June 19, 2023

Phantoms of Freedom: An Excerpt From “Illusions of Emancipation”

Happy Juneteenth! Celebrate and reflect on the emancipation of slavery with this excerpt from Illusions of Emancipation: The Pursuit of Freedom and Equality in the Twilight of Slavery by Joseph P. Reidy. In this sweeping reappraisal of slavery’s end during the Civil War era, Joseph P. Reidy employs the lenses of time, space, and individuals’ sense of personal and social… Continue Reading Phantoms of Freedom: An Excerpt From “Illusions of Emancipation”

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Excerpts
April 13, 2023

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Election of Chicago’s first Black Mayor: An Excerpt from “The Multiracial Promise”

Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of Harold Washington’s election as the first Black mayor of Chicago. Washington’s victory 40 years ago was unlikely not just because America’s second city was one of the nation’s most racially balkanized but also because it came at a time when Ronald Reagan and other political conservatives seemed resurgent. In The Multiracial Promise: Harold Washington’s… Continue Reading Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Election of Chicago’s first Black Mayor: An Excerpt from “The Multiracial Promise”

Categories African American Studies/Excerpts/Political Science
April 5, 2023

The Multiracial Promise: Read an Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from The Multiracial Promise: Harold Washington’s Chicago and the Democratic Struggle in Reagan’s America by Gordon K. Mantler, available wherever books are sold. THEY CALLED IT the promised land. The warmth of other suns. The Black Metropolis. For at least four generations, African Americans flocked to Chicago to escape the living hell of the South’s Jim… Continue Reading The Multiracial Promise: Read an Excerpt

Categories African American Studies/Political Science
March 9, 2023

2023 African American Intellectual History Society Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at the AAIHS annual meeting! We hope you’ll stop by our table to say hello to editor Andrew Winters and to browse our titles on display. If you can’t join us in-person, you can always visit our virtual booth! Stop by either our in-person booth or our virtual booth to browse our… Continue Reading 2023 African American Intellectual History Society Annual Meeting

Categories African American Studies/UNC Press News
March 7, 2023

New This Month: March

We’re kicking off our Spring/Summer 2023 season with a stellar line up of new titles! Browse this list to see new books publishing this month, and you can find the full list, including a bunch of new in paperbacks here. The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women: Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South edited by Kami Ahrens “These… Continue Reading New This Month: March

Categories African American Studies/Civil War/Gender Studies/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Political Science/Religion/Sociology/UNC Press News
February 27, 2023

Black History Month Reading List: Biographies

To celebrate Black History Month we have been sharing reading lists of relevant Black history titles for you to enjoy all month long. The final installment of our reading lists focuses on biographies, telling the stories of Black lives and experiences. Make sure to also browse our full list of African American studies titles, learn about our new Black Women’s History Series, and keep… Continue Reading Black History Month Reading List: Biographies

Categories African American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Reading Lists
February 24, 2023

Read Hammer and Hoe for Free

We’re excited to announce that in celebration of the inaugural issue of Hammer and Hope: A Magazine of Black Politics & Culture, you can now read Hammer and Hoe by Robin D. G. Kelley for free until 3/22/23. The Magazine, whose name is inspired by the award winning book, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression by Robin… Continue Reading Read Hammer and Hoe for Free

Categories African American History/African American Studies/UNC Press News